Wells Fargo Orders Employees to Remove China-Owned TikTok from Company Devices

Banking giant Wells Fargo reportedly identified that a number of employees had installed the Chinese-owned TikTok app on company devices and requested that all employees remove the app due to “privacy concerns.”

Engadget reports that Wells Fargo has requested that all employees remove the Chinese-owned app TikTok from company devices due to “privacy concerns.” This news comes shortly after the New York Times reported that the e-commerce giant Amazon had requested that their employees also remove the app from their devices, a claim which Amazon responded to claiming the email was sent “in error.”

A Wells Fargo spokesperson confirmed that the company has instructed employees to remove TikTok from company devices, stating:

We have identified a small number of Wells Fargo employees with corporate-owned devices who had installed the TikTok application on their device. Due to concerns about TikTok’s privacy and security controls and practices, and because corporate-owned devices should be used for company business only, we have directed those employees to remove the app from their devices.

The New York Times recently reported that e-commerce giant Amazon instructed its employees to delete the Chinese-owned video and social media app TikTok from their mobile devices over “security risks,” according to an email sent to employees. In the email, Amazon officials instructed employees to delete the app from any devices that “access Amazon email.” Following the publication of the story, Amazon responded that the email was sent in error. An Amazon spokesperson told the Times: “There is no change to our policies right now with regard to TikTok.”

TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance and has faced intense scrutiny in Washingtons for security reasons due to its ownership. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently advised all Americans not to download the app unless they want their private information to fall into “the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.” Pompeo stated on Monday that the Trump administration is considering blocking some Chinese apps, which he says are a threat to national security.

TikTok announced late on Monday that it would be withdrawing from Hong Kong where a new national security law from China was enacted. It was recently reported that TikTok has begun evaluating changes to the corporate structure of its business in order to avoid scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com